June 2020 Monthly Entry
The sunny and warm weather has been bringing out people as things slowly normalize around here. Lately it has been on and off rain which is kind of strange at this time of year.
Some kids have come back to school full-time on June 1st but only a limited amount can do this. All classrooms are being used so we have to wipe down almost everything that is touchable - about three times a day at most. At Rosser, we still have a casual for 8 hours during the day who does the disinfecting during recess and lunch. Classrooms are taking turns to have recess and lunch earlier/later than others to give us a chance to go in and quickly clean, so that the other classrooms then do their break periods and we finish them off. It's not easy for some and we now have to write in the times and initial on a sheet on or by a door when the room has been cleaned. Because I work afternoons, I have to write in the "enhanced cleaning" box for each room since I'm the one who has the time to do things more thoroughly. There can be a lot of paper towel garbage and dirt tracked in from outside despite there being less students. Wednesdays seem to be mostly dead at Montecito so it gives me a reprieve to pace myself and catch up on anything I need. 9 more shifts of this and then summer break starts.
Sadly as of last Tuesday, my sub-foreman at Montecito, Dean, has left and reverted back to being an afternoon custodian now working at Forest Grove nearby. It's too bad, we've worked together for just over a year but since the end of spring break, we haven't seen each other because they changed his shift hours. Instead of his usual 10am-6:30pm shift, it became 6:45am-3:15pm and it meant he would be long gone by the time I arrive from working at Rosser. He did not like that shift and the fact we couldn't overlap to see each other. He told me that he ultimately wants to end up at Burnaby Mountain someday and that Forest Grove is just a stepping stone for now. In a strange twist, he will be in Burnaby Mountain today and my new sub-foreman from Mountain -the position that Dean is taking over from- had started at my school today! His name is Jay and I think I may have met him in the past. While Dean's pay goes down for going back to being a regular custodian like me, he no longer has to deal with as many requests and doesn't have to wake up early - except for the upcoming summer break of course. It's too bad, we got along pretty well. Sunita, who took over for me when I was off work last fall, was working the day shift during last week's transition period so it was a logical choice from management. It only last 4 days as they really sped-up the transition period compared to 2 weeks as before. Our theory is that it's a cost saving measure since they don't have to pay a casual custodian for 2 weeks worth of shifts so they made transitioning much faster. Jay and I will be working together at the end of the month so I may temporarily be taking a more leadership role for the scrub given my experience at the school.
Since my last entry 4 months ago about my broken arm, not much has changed. Actually, not long after that entry, I was getting some stiffness in my right back shoulder blade at times. Colin, my physiotherapist, says it is likely due to my sitting down for certain periods of time and my posture causing some stress on it. It eventually went away in early April I’d say. My left arm has, a few times, felt like it was rebelling against me as payback for the “abuse” it went through last year. There were times it had a discomfort that kind of felt like my right arm. As of mid-March, we had the coronavirus lockdown everywhere. Allied Physiotherapy Health Group was closed for 2 months but thankfully, I was able to get through it with no problems. I’m grateful of this current time of slow healing and that I didn’t have the accident earlier this year - given the current pandemic! WCB is still paying for my appointments. I had my first appointment since their re-opening on Friday, May 22. I have to wear a mask for the visit and use provided hand sanitizer when I arrive and leave afterwards. Colin spent extra time massaging and probing my arm but for whatever reason, didn’t do the e-stim. While I wasn’t carrying the discomfort of his probing for the rest of the day, there was some minor residue of it. I think e-stim would have helped in that. Ah well. I had another appointment on June 5 and it was very much the same, though the probing was very much getting toward feeling my bones! Ouch!. As for work, I can easily do wiping down of surfaces and haven’t had any problems given I did it every shift since spring break. So range of motion is mostly back to normal. Getting my hand behind my back has gotten easier but painful when I extend it further to the left side of my back. So there seems to be more healing to be had, despite 10 months of time.
The US/Canada border is still not open so it may mean no US travel this summer. While land and sea travel is pretty much banned except for good reason (business, truckers, medical, etc.), air travel is surprisingly allowed. Problem is, any Canadian who returns from another country is required to quarantine for 14 days. And from my employer, I cannot be paid for that entire time so the added punishment is a loss of 10 shifts worth of finances. So if US travel is a no-go this summer, I may consider some Canadian travel instead.
Over a week ago, I spent four nights watching the first four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies on Netflix, one a night each in a row. I have seen the first 3 movies in the past but the 4th one, 2007's TMNT I've never seen before. With the first film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I first saw it probably in April 1990 at the old Cineplex Odeon location around the Scottsdale area of Surrey. My mom had my older brother take me to it and gave him the money for tickets. I remember loving the movie, feeling like it was a more grown-up version of the franchise. It was very dark and while it had its silly moments, was nonetheless great for a kid at my age. Jim Henson's animatronics and the costumes were amazing! They still hold up well today. About the same time next year, we once again went to go see the sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze at the same theater. I remember my brother ran into a friend of his from high school who happened to go watch the film that night too. I also remember liking it too but felt the movie was scaled back in terms of how dark it was, feeling more "kid-friendly" than the first. 2 years later in 1993, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III was released but I did not go and watch it in theaters. I'm not sure why, I think looking at the TV trailers at the time made me question it. But in 1994 or 1995, I watched it on VHS at my best friends, Marc & Ian's, place. I remember being underwhelmed and bored by it. I think it was pretty much the only time I ever saw it. In terms of all 3 films, I don't think I've seen them for over 23 years! The first two movies were good, nostalgic fun. The third movie was pointless and definitely the worst of the trilogy but had a little effort put into it, I'll give it that. 14 year later, we get the CGI-animated fourth film, TMNT. It was okay, but pretty underwhelming and I'm glad I didn't go and watch it in theaters back then. It has some pretty good voice talent and some nice shots of New York, but the story is bland with a manufactured plot. It pretty much needed a prequel to explain why these "problems pulled out their asses" happened in the first place. In terms of ranking them (excluding the recent two Michael Bay reboot movies), the first movie is the best one, then the second, then the fourth, and finally the third.
James Rolfe - The Angry Video Game Nerd - made a 2006 video reviewing the third film but includes highlights of the first two. It is one of his best earliest movie reviews and I pretty much agree with everything he said. It almost mirrors my own experience of watching the movies and being a big Turtles fan as a kid in the early 90's. You can see it here or below:
Click to viewLast year, he did a "Rental Review" episode of the first two films here or below:
The Nostalgia Critic has a review of the first two movies here or below:
Plus his a full review of the 2007 TMNT film here or below:
And finally, Doug and Rob's "Real Thoughts" review of the movies here or below:
I'm almost done Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition and I'm on the final levels of the last campaign. The review will be up soon. While I've played some of The World Ends with You, I'll probably concentrate more on it later. Haven't watched much Star Trek: Voyager but I'm halfway through season 7. Maybe I'll have it done next month. I just started the new Star Trek: Picard and we'll see how that goes.
Last Movie: Avengers: Endgame (Theatrical), TMNT (Netflix)
Last Book: The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - The Screwtape Letters
Last Game: SoulCalibur V (PS3)
Current Book: The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - Miracles
Current Games: Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition (PS3 - PSN) & The World Ends with You (DS)